


What I Love About You

by WeWillSpockYou



Category: McKirk - Fandom, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Dammit Jim, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 15:26:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1515461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeWillSpockYou/pseuds/WeWillSpockYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim and Bones find themselves in marriage counselling with their Doctor asking them to name one thing they love about each other. Neither man will do it. What can possibly save this marriage?</p>
            </blockquote>





	What I Love About You

The silence was deafening. "Well?" Dr. Tennant asked, looking back and forth at the couple seated across the desk from him. Crickets. One man sat staring him dead in the eye, while the other sat with his arms folded across his chest, staring as far to the right as he was able without breaking his neck. "Neither one of you can tell me something you love about your spouse?" Crickets with laryngitis. "Guys look, we've been at this for weeks and I've seen no measurable progress. I'm recommending divorce. If neither of you can tell me just one thing that you love about each other, there's nothing left for me to work with. I wish you both all the best." Captain James T. Kirk and Doctor Leonard H. McCoy got up from their chairs and left the room. 

Later that evening Jim sat in their office. Well, what used to be their office. As with their bedroom, Bones had moved out months ago. He turned on his computer and opened a blank Word document and typed: _What I love about ~~Leonard~~ Bones_. He hit the return button several times and just stared at the blinking cursor.

Jim didn’t know how things had gone so wrong so fast. It had started with a pretty nurse at the hospital and lipstick on Bones’ collar. Bones swore up and down that the woman had come on to him and that he pushed her away.  Jim hadn’t believed him and that was when the fighting started. Jim thought Bones had been unfaithful, Bones denied it and Jim thought he was a liar. After that it was separate corners and separate bedrooms. Jim had refused to touch him until he came clean, Bones said there was nothing to come clean about. So here they sat, dead in the water. Two men famously in love, now living separate lives and counseled that divorce was their only option.

Jim spun the platinum band on his left hand. He remembered the look of awe on Bones’ face when Jim accepted his proposal all those years ago. He remembered the way his eyes had shined deep green in the growing dark of sunset. Jim remembered seeing a lifetime of love in those eyes.  What if Dr. Tennant was right and naming one thing they loved about each other might be enough to get this marriage out of the ditch? What if this one thing could get Bones to smile at him just one more time? Was it worth his pride to admit he was wrong about Bones and that woman? What if he took the first step forward, would Bones follow?

He picked his fingers up from the keyboard and began to type.

 

Bones sat at his makeshift desk in the spare bedroom, twirling a glass of bourbon in his hands. The makeshift desk was the card table Jim and Bones used on poker night, back when they used to have a poker night. Bones real desk was downstairs in their office, _his_ office now. Bones shook his head, not able to believe he had called something in this house, “his.” Everything had always been “ours.”

It had always been so easy between the two of them. They laughed, they talked and they made love like they were newlyweds. Bones always found himself waiting for the hammer to drop and when it did he was filled with self-recrimination and I told you so’s.

He thought back to Kelley. That stupid bitch. The rumor around the hospital was that she was a relationship wrecker. She was kind of woman who took sadistic joy in fucking married men. Bones just happened to be next victim on her list. She had cornered him one night in the research lab, wrapping her arms around his seated form from behind and kissing his collar with her red lipstick freshly applied. Bones, recognizing the cloying scent of her perfume had shoved back, knocking her to the floor, the first time in his life he’d ever come close to hitting a woman. He told her in no uncertain terms to fuck off. However the damage was done, when Jim saw his collar he went nuclear. Nothing Bones said or did would calm or comfort his husband, not even several weeks later when Kelley was fired for servicing other doctors in the supply closet. Jim still wouldn’t believe he was innocent.

Jim shut him out and Bones shut down. Gave up the fight and moved out of their bedroom and their office. He now spent most of his time at home trapped in this prison of his own making. He still cried himself to sleep, when he slept, that was. After all those years of sleeping wrapped up in each other, he couldn’t get the hang of sleeping alone. Now with a divorce, a second divorce that was, on the horizon he guessed he’d have to get used to it damn fast.

He slugged down the remaining contents of his glass and paced the room. Why couldn’t he just tell Dr. Tennant one thing he loved about Jim? Used to be a list like that would have taken months to compose, why couldn’t Bones just swallow his pride and take the easy way out and say Jim’s amazingly beautiful blue eyes? It wasn’t as if that were a lie or indisputable. It was plain enough to anyone who looked at his husband. Bones broke again as his mind spoke that word. He threw himself down on the bed and gave himself over to the tears yet again.

 

When Bones walked into the kitchen the next morning he was met with fresh coffee and pancakes. The table was set for two and there was a sealed envelope on the plate at Bones’ place. “What’s all this?”

“Just a little breakfast, it’s Wednesday and that means it’s you’re late night in the ER. I figured…” Jim sighed and turned back to the stove.

“You figured what, Jim? I’d need my strength for the bevy of nurses I’ll be fucking today? Hmm, is that it?”

Jim sucked in a deep breath and turned to Bones, fresh ammo in his gun ready to fire at his husband. Instead of pulling the trigger, Jim went to the cabinet and pulled out Bones’ favorite mug. He made his coffee the way he liked it and set it down in front of him. “I made you breakfast because you love pancakes and I love…” _You._ Jim finished in his head.  “Pancakes too.” Jim finished lamely. He picked up Bones’ plate, sliding the letter onto the table and served up his special chocolate chip pancakes. They ate in silence.  Jim considered it a small victory when Bones shoved the sealed envelope into his briefcase before he left. Bones got all the way to the door of his car, before he turned and walked back to the house and called Jim’s name from the front door.

“Yeah, Bones.” Jim said, wiping his wet hands on a dishtowel as he stepped into the hall leading to the front door.

“Thanks for the pancakes, they were good.”

Jim smiled his million watt smile, the one Bones only saw lately in photographs. “Glad you liked them, Bones. Um, have a good day at work.”

Bones nodded and started to take a step forward before changing his mind and heading back out the door.

It wasn’t much, Jim thought, swiping tears from his eyes, but a thank you for breakfast was a start.

 

It wasn’t’ much, Bones thought, pancakes for breakfast. What was ‘much’ was the way Jim had stopped himself from firing back after Bones’ cheap shot about the bevy of nurses. The only fucking he’d been doing lately was fucking himself over and the occasional handjob courtesy of Mary Palm and her five sisters.

He was sitting at his desk in his office that overlooked downtown Atlanta. He held Jim’s letter in his hands, debating opening in up or throwing it away. After all this time, what else was there to say? But still, what if there was a chance? Bones tore open the envelope and pulled out the folded paper.

_What I love about Bones_  
 _Green eyes, well mostly green, sometimes they are gold too and the way they shine when he smiles._  
 _His smile, which I never see anymore, but it’s brilliant and beautiful._  
 _His hands, strong and competent, full of love. I miss your hands on my skin._  
 _Your sweet, sinful accent, dripping with honey when you say my name. Please say my name again._  
 _The way you always laugh at my stupid jokes._  
 _You whistle when you grill, I love that. I miss grilling with you. We should grill tonight._  
 _The way you wrap me in your arms after making love. I miss that, being held, so much, so much._  
 _You always fork down my awful pancakes and pretend they are the best thing you’ve tasted. Thanks._  
 _They way you always forgive me for everything stupid I do._

_Can you do that now, Bones? Can you forgive me for thinking you could ever be unfaithful? Can you forgive me for all of the awful things I said to you? Can you forgive the silence? Can you forgive my not wanting you to touch me? I’m so sorry, Bones._

_Please say you’ll forgive me. Please say we can talk. Please Bones._

_What I love most about you Bones, is you._

_-Jim, your stupid husband_

Bones hitched in a breath as he finished Jim’s letter. His hands were shaking as they wiped away his tears. He stood up and paced his office. He knew what he had to do as he reached for the phone.

Jim was in their garden. Bones’ garden, as Jim had no idea what to do out here. It was Bones favorite thing about this house. He would spend hours out here tending his vegetables, but ever since the shit hit the fan, he’d abandoned his beloved garden. Jim hated seeing this happen so he started to water the plants and then started to read all the gardening books Bones had in their office. He managed to bring it back to its full glory and could finally see what Bones found so relaxing about being out here. He was pulling weeds when he heard a car’s tires screech nearby and a door slamming. The door alarm of the house sounded and Jim could hear Bones’ voice yelling for him.

“In the garden.” Jim yelled out as he wiped his dirty hands on his pants.

Bones flew outside and stopped short of Jim. He was a mess. His hair was sweaty and plastered to his forehead, his tie was undone and his shirt half tucked. He was out of breath. “Jim.” He panted.

“Fuck Bones, are you okay?” Jim went to him holding his hands back, unsure is his touch would be welcomed.

Bones nodded, still trying to catch his breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and thrust it toward Jim.

He opened it up and saw Bones’ neat block printing, thank fuck the man knew how to print, not even Bones could read his own handwriting.

 _What I love about my infant husband, Jim_  
Your courage to say, ‘I’m sorry’ and mean it.  
 _Your awful pancakes_  
 _Those eyes Jim, always so full of love, lately so full of pain. I’m sorry for the pain I caused you._  
 _I’m so sorry, Jim._  
 _I forgive you._  
 _I love you._  
  
 _Fuck Doctor Tennant, we’re not getting divorced. We’ll send the dumb fuck an invitation to our 50_ th anniversary party.

_Did I say ‘ love you?’ I do._  
 _-Bones, your equally stupid husband_

Jim didn’t realize he was crying until his tears splashed onto the letter. He looked up at Bones who was crying too. He carefully folded the letter and stuck it in his pocket and pulled Bones into his arms. “I love you so much.” Jim whispered into his neck.

“Me too, Jimmy. I love you too.” Bones held on tight.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes! Jim and Bones' marriage counselor is David Tennant. I had a picture of him with that sweetly goofy smile in my mind and needed to stick him into this story.
> 
> Jim showed me a list of things he loves about Bones at 330am after a trip to the loo! Jim showed me the list and whispered the first paragraph, which I painstakingly typed out on my phone. Any of you who know me will attest to the fact that I hate texting and writing on my phone. I did it because Jim insisted. So I go back to bed, hoping for a bit of a cuddle with Jim, which he was happy to provide for about thirty seconds before he told me I needed to get up and write this thing. An hour later saw it finished but for the edits! Dammit JIM!


End file.
